


you got me wanting you

by achilleees



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Closeted Character, Established Relationship, Future Fic, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Recreational Drug Use, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-04
Updated: 2017-07-04
Packaged: 2018-11-20 04:42:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11328828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/achilleees/pseuds/achilleees
Summary: “Kent – Parson?” Dex said, kind of a squeak. “Like…”“How many Kent Parsons you know of?” Nursey said. “Yeah, Parson. Number one celeb crush. I’m mad into that douche-ass smirk, man.”





	you got me wanting you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [blithelybonny](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blithelybonny/gifts).



> it got long, folks. it got real long.
> 
> for blithelybonny - i didn't hit any one of your likes in particular, but i kind of meandered around the vicinity of many of them, so hopefully this works for you!

It came up for the first time on a roadie in their freshman year, before the Water Bottle Incident and the Very Important Meeting where Hall formally announced that theirs was the rare defensive partnership that was actively harmed by close proximity.

Which was true. And Chowder was a better roomie than Dex anyway, even if he talked to his gear.

Seriously, entire conversations.

They were watching reruns of Friends on basic cable, and halfway through the episode Nursey noticed Dex had gone all quiet and squirmy when Courteney Cox was on the screen.

“Seriously?” he said. “Her?”

“Shut up,” Dex said, scowling ferociously. “Half the NHL’s got a massive crush on Jennifer Aniston, anyway.”

“You’ve been watching those cheesy NHL.com vlogs with Bits, haven’t you?” Nursey said. “And they’re jonesing for her because they actually grew up watching Friends. She’s like 40, man.”

“She’s not 40 here!” Dex said, pointing to the screen. “I don’t get why you’re chirping me for this, anyway, you’re obsessed with Grace Kelly and she’s ancient.”

“I cannot believe you don’t realize I’m messing with you,” Nursey said, smirking. “And I’m not obsessed with Grace Kelly, although if you don’t admit what a massive babe she was you’re a fuckin’ liar.”

Dex made a face, but his hackles were visibly lowering. “Fine, then, who’s your celebrity crush?”

“I gotta pick one?” Nursey rolled onto his back, thinking about this. Then he said, maybe putting a little effort into sounding casual –

It was half a test, to see if Dex was really the conservative dickhole he sometimes seemed to be. A quarter just an inevitability, because these guys were going to find out sometime, and Nursey wasn’t interested in making a big show of it. And that last quarter…

Maybe he was leaving the door open for Dex to admit something back. The way that boy stared at Jack’s ass, you couldn’t convince Nursey he was 100% straight.

“Kent Parson,” he said.

“Kent – Parson?” Dex said, kind of a squeak. “Like…”

“How many Kent Parsons you know of?” Nursey said. “Yeah, Parson. Number one celeb crush. I’m mad into that douche-ass smirk, man.”

He wasn’t kidding. That smirk featured in his fucking dreams, usually directed up at him from between his thighs, Parson’s lips inches from his cock…

“Kent Parson,” Dex repeated.

“Yeah, Kent Parson,” Nursey said again, rolling his eyes. “That gonna be a problem, man?” He should have guessed Dex would be weird about this, but it still kind of sucked.

“No,” Dex said hotly. “Just surprised that’s your taste, I guess.”

“Really?” Nursey said, genuinely curious. “You don’t think he’s pretty?”

“I mean,” Dex said, faltering, “I guess he’s – attractive, in a way.”

No way dude was 100% straight. “I dig the wiry build,” Nursey said. “Lotta NHL guys are built like shithouses, but he’s, you know, lithe. Pretty.”

“Lithe,” Dex said, making a face again.

Which, keep up, Dex. The guys liked to get on Nursey for his pretentious English-professors-for-parents vernacular, but lithe wasn’t even that weird.

“Yeah, lithe,” Nursey said. “That lissome frame, with eyes of amorphous hue, and a mood somehow both supercilious and winsome.”

“Ugh,” Dex said.

“Shall I compare him to a summer’s day?” Nursey said, now full-on grinning. “He is more lovely and more temperate. Rough -”

“I’m going to see what Chowder’s doing,” Dex said, rolling his eyes. “ _Bye_.”

“Winds do shake the darling -”

Dex slammed the door behind him.

Nursey rolled onto his back, still smiling. Coulda gone worse.

 

The next time it came up was at the Epikegster, when Nursey maybe, _maybe_ , stalked Parson from across the room the entire night.

“You were serious about that celebrity crush, huh?” Dex said, leaning against the wall next to Nursey and watching with him as Parson valiantly deluded himself into thinking he could throw down against Lardo.

“Chyeah,” Nursey said, because it was way too late to mask this level of thirst.

Dex watched for a long minute. “I don’t get it,” he said. “He’s pretty, but there are a lot of pretty guys. What’s… you know, why?”

“Hockey talent’s a big part of it,” Nursey admitted. “Anyone who can do what he did to Minny last week can _get it_.”

“So why aren’t you crushing on Jack?” Dex said. “Jack’s pretty. Jack’s talented.”

“First off, ew,” said Nursey. “He’s our dad, Poindexter, don’t be gross.”

Dex rolled his eyes.

“And Jack’s too… awkward,” Nursey said. “Too… sincere.”

“And that’s a bad thing?” Dex said, strangely irritably, but Nursey would never pretend to understand the way his weird little Poindexter brain worked.

“It’s not bad,” Nursey said. “I can go for earnest, in the right contexts. I don’t know.” He had never tried to put it into words before. “Parson’s damaged, you know? The boy’s seen shit. But still he’s got that pretty smirk down.”

“The more you talk, the less I understand what you’re saying,” said Dex, brow furrowed.

Nursey tapped his finger on the rim of his cup, thinking. “Okay, thought experiment. Imagine Jack’s out in public. He gets a call from his girlfriend.”

“Jack doesn’t have a girlfriend.”

“You’re real fun at parties,” Nursey said. “So Jack’s girlfriend dumps him. He hangs up the phone. Someone walks up and asks him for an autograph. How does Jack respond?”

“Uh,” Dex said. “Anger? Stoicism? Awkwardness? Some combination of the three?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” said Nursey. “Same situation. How does Parson respond?”

Dex looked over at Parson. “He’d smirk,” he said. “Flirt with them. Make them feel like they were the only people in the room.”

“Right,” said Nursey, pleased. “Jack’s the kind of guy – you know, his grandfather died and he didn’t leave his room for two days, remember? Bitty had to push food in through the window? He withdraws. Parson… If his grandfather died, he’d be out on the town the next day, looking as pretty as he ever has.”

“And you like that,” Dex said flatly.

“I never pretended not to have my own baggage,” Nursey said, his voice low.

“You’re fucked up, you know that?” Dex said, and stalked off.

Nursey stared after him. “Whaaat the fuck,” he said, but by then Parson was down to one cup and he was wearing that face-off-focus expression, so Nursey put that particular outburst on the back-burner to ponder on a rainy day.

 

Parson left the party early after disappearing with Jack for a few minutes. He signed autographs on the way out, and let some girls take pictures with him against the hood of his car, mask never slipping.

He scored four goals against Boston the next day.

Nursey texted a screenshot of the final score to Dex, and didn’t get a response.

 

Nursey could be a dick, but he tried not to be, so he consciously didn’t bring up Parson around Dex when he could avoid it. Dex seemed to be doing the same thing, and they made it another two years without his name coming up in conversation again.

Which was tough, because that Aces-Falcs game, fuck. Yeah, Nursey wanted Jack to win, and his goal was a beauty. But watching Parson get the puck and then shape the ice to his will, going coast to coast like there was nothing and no one that could keep him from netting this one…

The camera angle was bad and his helmet blocked his eyes, but Nursey knew exactly what expression Parson was wearing when he met Jack’s eyes across the ice when it was called good goal.

He jerked himself sore that night.

“Good game,” Dex muttered, when no one could talk about anything else at breakfast the next day.

“Yeah, good game,” Nursey said.

 

Dex was the one to finally bring it up again, in junior year when they were living-together and _together_ -together, after that eventful night with the midterms meltdown and the confessions and the handjobs and the 4AM pancakes in the all-night diner.

“Your boyfriend’s a judge on Chopped,” he said from the living room.

“What?” Nursey said, elbows-deep in the pantry trying to find the good energy bars that Ollie kept hidden in the back for himself.

“Your boyfriend is judging Chopped,” Dex repeated, biting out each syllable.

Nursey poked his head into the living room. He didn’t often see Parson out of either his uniform or a suit, and the green St. Paddy’s Day Aces t-shirt brought out his eyes in a way that hit Nursey right in the gut. “Oh,” he said, trying to sound indifferent. “Cool.”

Dex snorted.

“What do you want me to say?” Nursey said.

“I still don’t get it,” Dex said.

“That much is abundantly clear,” Nursey said, ripping open a peanut butter-chocolate chip Larabar and biting off a good half of it.

“And you’re still crushing on him?” Dex said.

Nursey was thankful for the full mouth, as it gave him time to think about his answer. But what were his options? He could lie, but that didn’t feel right. He could tell the truth, but that felt even wronger.

“I mean,” he said. “Yeah, crushing, but not like _feelings_. I just want to bone the pretty boy, don’t make more of it than it is.”

For some reason, this seemed to piss Dex off more. He crossed his arms and huffed.

“What the fuck do you want me to say?” Nursey said again, tired of tiptoeing around this non-issue. “Yeah, Parson’s my type, I can’t help thinking -”

“Yeah!” Dex said. “Parson’s your _type!”_

Nursey really hoped no one else was home. This one was shaping up to be a doozy. “So?” he said.

“So I’m not Kent Parson!” Dex said.

“And I’m not Courteney Cox!” Nursey said. “So the fuck what?”

“No, I am _not_ Kent Parson,” Dex said. “Everything you say you like about Parson is diametrically opposite to who I am as a person. I’m the Jack of this parallel, and you don’t like Jack.”

Nursey, absurdly, had to tamp down the urge to laugh. He had a feeling that wouldn’t go over well with Dex in this moment. “Oh my god, who gives a fuck?”

Dex’s expression went murderous.

“Wouldn’t it bother you more if I were only with you because you were my _type_?” Nursey said. “I like you, for whatever reason, and I’m still unclear on what Parson being pretty has to do with that but I promise you, I’m not picturing his face when you’re going down on me.”

Dex scowled, looking down. Then, he said in a small voice, “You promise?”

“I promise,” Nursey said. “You fuckin’ nutball.”

“Okay,” said Dex.

“And you gotta admit,” Nursey said. “He’s _really_ pretty.”

Dex glanced at the TV. “I guess,” he said, pursing his lips a little.

 

Nursey had somehow forgotten that Dex only had two modes - zero, and _hey can I rim you over the balcony railing_? Nursey got it - he knew it drove Dex crazy that Nursey was so much more experienced sexually than he was, and this was his way of keeping up, but holy _shit_ did that boy have hidden reservoirs of sexual fervor just waiting to be unleashed on unsuspecting boyfriends.

So, naturally it went from _Nursey’s-celebrity-crush-who-shall-not-be-named_ to _Kent-Parson-roleplay-dirty-talk-during-team-breakfast._

Okay, that wasn’t exactly right. They didn’t roleplay _as_ Kent Parson. It was more, ‘I bet Parson gets off on being told he’s pretty’ and ‘you think Parson likes being edged?’ and ‘I bet Parson’s sucked someone off in the Aces locker room.’

That one made Dex blush, fumbling to delete the text and stuff his phone away in his bag, glaring at Nursey across the locker room. He was weird all day during practice, which was delightful. Nursey found a lot of sadistic joy watching Hall interrogate Dex about why he was being such a shit-show when he knew he was half-hard in his pads the whole time.

He expected to get pounced on in their room after practice, which happened. What he didn’t expect was Dex to ask, “Do you think he’s actually gay?”

“Who, Parson?” Nursey said. He grimaced. For some reason, it felt less invasive to talk about how Parson liked his blowjobs than whether he actually liked dudes.

“Yeah,” Dex said. “I bet all the gay guys in the league know each other, right? I was thinking, like, if he’s gay, sure, he’s probably sucked someone off in the locker room. But then I was thinking - wait, is he?”

“He might not be _gay_ ,” Nursey hedged.

Dex rolled his eyes. “Fine, bi, or pan, or whatever. Do you think he likes dick?”

“Yeah,” Nursey said.

All of Dex’s breath left him in a rush. “Yeah,” he said. “Me too.”

“I mean, him and Jack… Now that Jack and Bitty are all - it makes sense, right? Jack’s in his head.” Nursey winced. Jack and Kent had been _electric_ in the All-Star Game, for all that they’d never made eye contact. “I have no clue what went down, but if you’re asking if I think Parson likes guys… I think he’s liked at least one guy, in the past. Wouldn’t be surprised if that were the rule rather than the exception.”

“Yeah,” Dex said. He smiled. “You think he likes redheads?’

“Dumb question. Errybody likes redheads,” Nursey said, tugging a lock of Dex’s hair before leaning in to kiss him.

“I appreciate your delusions,” said Dex wryly.

 

After that, the conversation… changed, in a weird way. Instead of ‘You think Parson’s ever been deep-throated’ it became ‘You think Parson has a boyfriend?’ Instead of ‘You think Parson likes dirty talk’ it became ‘You think Parson’s happy?’

“Whoa,” Nursey said, breathing out a lungful of smoke. “Gettin’ heavy there, Poindexter.”

“Yeah,” Dex said, reaching for the blunt. He glared at it for a moment before taking a drag. Dex still wasn’t great at smoking, but he was getting better. Nursey was such a terrible influence.

Small wonder Dex didn’t want to tell his parents about them - they already disliked him enough as a friend.

“Seriously, though,” Dex said, coughing and blinking and wrinkling his nose, so adorable it made Nursey’s heart thump harder. “You think he’s happy?”

“Dude, I have no fucking idea,” Nursey said.

“You’re the one who was all, like, _ooh he’s such a damaged boy with a pretty smirk_ ,” Dex said, in an entirely unfair approximation of Nursey’s voice.

“Dude.” Nursey said. “Uncool.”

“Would you focus?” Dex said.

Nursey waved his hand. “Right, right. But, like… I dunno. That’s the thing about wearing a mask full-time. No goddamn clue what’s real and what’s not.”

“Yeah,” Dex said. “I hope he is.”

“Aw, I bet he is,” Nursey said, tugging Dex into a loving headlock and giving him a noogie. “I bet he’s figured his shit out.”

Dex sighed. “I just… I know how much it was eating Bitty, before Jack started telling everyone.”

“Not everyone’s like Bitty,” Nursey said. “I mean, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind being able to come out, but dude’s so private already. Seems like the kind of guy who’d rather keep his shit on the DL anyway.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Dex said with a frown. “Just seems, like, chicken and eggy. Is he private because he’s gay, or is he… Wait, that’s not right.”

Nursey started laughing.

“Is he private because he’s gay, or is he private because he’s private and he just happens to be gay,” Dex said, louder, over Nursey’s laughter. “Is it like, begging the question?”

“Ohhh I am way too high to figure out if you’re using begging the question correctly,” Nursey said, laughter cutting off abruptly. “That is the cruelest thing you’ve ever done to me. Ever.”

Dex stuck his tongue out at him.

 

And then summer rolled around, and Nursey was too busy missing Dex to think much about Kent Parson’s love life.

At least, until Bitty messaged their group text.

_Alright y’all I KNOW you’re going to be on your best behavior at Jack’s b-day party even with all the Falcs around but SO HELP ME if you get all embarrassing about Kent Parson again we are gonna have WORDS do you hear me?_

Holster texted, _Hehehe i LOVE your random capitalizations and OF COURSE we’ll be good_.

Ransom next, _It WASN’T even us who got all embarrassing so KINDLY shut your adorable PIEHOLE._

Lardo. _Uhhh do you or do you NOT remember Chowder having to breathe into a BAG to keep from hyperventilating??_

Chowder. _THAT’S BECAUSE HE SNAPCHATTED PATRICK MARLEAU WITH ME LARDO DO NOT BLASPHEME MY NAME_.

Ransom. _You can’t capitalize every word chowds. You’re killing it._

Nursey. _i KnEw YoU wErE tRoUbLe WhEn YoU wAlKeD iN…_

Holster. _Jesus i hope that was worth it. How long did that even take_?

Nursey. _I’ve been typing it since Bitty’s first text. And chyeah, totally worth it._

Bitty. _I’m ignoring you all. :) :) :)_

Lardo. _We’ll be good, Bits_.

 

Dex texted him separately, on their own text. _Kent Parson, huh? 10 bucks you stopped eating carbs the minute you read that_.

Nursey had, in fact, put down his bagel with a sigh upon seeing Bitty’s text. He was just glad he’d been bored enough to keep up with his cardio over the summer.

Nursey texted back, _I’m ignoring you :) :) :)_

 

At Jack’s party, the very first thing Nursey did was crouch down to greet the adorable puppy that tripped over its paws in its excitement to reach him.

“Holy shit, dude, he’s even cuter in person,” he said to Holster, letting the puppy give his face an enthusiastic tongue-bath. “Snapchat doesn’t do it justice.”

“I know,” Holster said smugly.

“What’s his name?” Dex said.

“Poutine,” Ransom said.

“That is literally the most perfect name I have ever heard,” Nursey said.

“Holy shit,” said a voice behind him, and all of a sudden Kent Parson’s face was inches away from Nursey’s as he hit his knees to pet the dog. “Total dick move here stealing away the puppy but I don’t even care? I might actually just steal the fucking puppy when I leave, so.”

Nursey had some trouble breathing, much less responding.

“I can hear you,” Holster said. “I know I’ve fangirled over you a lot in the past but you’re not stealing my dog in front of me.”

“Course not,” Parson agreed. “I’ll do it when your back is turned.”

“Uh,” Holster said.

“You kind of walked into that one,” Ransom said.

“Why are you all congregated on the sidewalk?” Bitty said, opening the front door. “Come on over to the backyard, don’t be shy.”

“My puppy,” Holster said, glaring and scooping up Poutine to walk to the backyard, eyeing Kent warily the whole time.

Ransom followed him, giving Poutine little nose kisses over his shoulder.

“Once more unto the breach,” Parson muttered to himself. He straightened up and took a deep breath, closing his eyes. When he opened them, he put on a languid smirk and nodded to Nursey and Dex before ambling into the backyard.

Nursey had to take a minute, after that one.

“Crush hasn’t faded, then?” Dex said.

“He just quoted fucking Shakespeare,” Nursey said, voice cracking. “And he - you saw that smirk! Can you blame me?”

“Nah, I get it now,” Dex said, looking after Kent.

Nursey looked at him, surprised.

“He’s about to walk into a crowd of people who’d be happier punching him out than shaking his hand,” Dex said. “And he’s gonna do it all with a smile. Let’s just say I have more appreciation for that kind of chill than I used to.” He smiled at Nursey.

“Yes!” Nursey said.

“So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, so long lives this, and this gives life to thee,” Dex said, flashed a smirk of his own at Nursey, and walked into the backyard.

Nursey put a hand to his chest. “I’ve been hit,” he said to himself, then chased after him.

 

“So,” Nursey said to Jack. “Kent Parson, huh?”

Jack looked at him quizzically. “Is… that a question?”

“I just didn’t think your circle were his biggest fans,” Nursey said, then frowned. “Your circle… was? Circle is singular, but fans is plural. No, circle is a plural noun masked as a singular. I think.”

“Uh,” Jack said, “how many of those have you had?” He looked at Nursey’s beer.

Nursey waved him off. “Grammar is bigger than all of us, Jack,” he said. “So Kent Parson?”

“They’re not his biggest fans on the ice, but everyone in the league knows how to compartmentalize,” Jack said. “Well. Mostly everyone.” He looked fondly at Tater.

“Oh?” Nursey said. Kent had needed to find his equanimity before entering the party, and if it wasn’t about the Falconers, then it had to be about something else.

“Snowy and he are close, actually,” said Jack. “And Thirdy was alternate captain with him in Sochi, so they’ve got their whole… thing.”

“Right,” Nursey said.

Jack shrugged one shoulder. “Parse is always good in groups, anyway.”

“Yeah, some people are better in threesomes,” Nursey agreed.

Jack stared at him.

“What?” said Nursey, enjoying himself.

“Doesn’t that mean…?” Jack said.

“Oh, my sweet little Quebecois, so many years and you still don’t know English,” Nursey said, patting his cheek. “Go rescue your boy, he looks like he needs help.”

Jack looked over and groaned at the sight of Bitty being lifted onto the roof to rescue an errant frisbee. “Crisse,” he said, and walked off.

 

For all that they spent a lot of time talking about it, Nursey didn’t actually think Dex would _say_ anything. This was a gross miscalculation, he realized upon seeing Dex in deep conversation with Parson, waving his hands vaguely, sloshing beer out of his cup. They both looked over at Nursey, who felt it like a punch to the gut.

“Zero to fucking sixty, Poindexter,” he muttered to himself, then swooped in. “Hi, my boyfriend’s drunk, you can probably ignore everything he’s been saying,” he said to Parson, slinging his arm around Dex’s neck. “Irish boy can’t hold his liquor, it’s quite sad.”

“I’m not Irish,” Dex said, for the zillionth time. “Also, not drunk.”

“He was just telling me you’re a D pair together,” Parson said, half his mouth curling with a smile. “What did you think he was saying?”

“Yes, what did you think I was saying?” Dex said, rolling his eyes at Nursey.

Nursey rubbed the back of his head. “Uhh…”

“Ooh, now I’m invested,” Parson said. “C’mon, I’m always here for the secrety secrets.”

Nursey and Dex looked at each other. Dex kind of shrugged. Nursey pressed his lips together.

He was never going to get a better chance than this, was he?

“Thought he might be telling you about the massive fucking crush I’ve had on you for years,” Nursey said, pitching his voice lower. “But I guess I did a good job embarrassing myself all on my own.”

Parson went kind of still, and for a long minute, Nursey wasn’t sure if he was about to get punched in the face. Or, more likely, that Parson was going to say something flippant and swagger away, the way he did so well.

But then Parson straightened his back and tilted his head to the side, smile going slanted, and Nursey knew instantly that this night was going to end well for him.

“Years?” Parson said. “That _is_ pretty embarrassing, man. Seems like you need to get this one out of your system.”

“Yeah,” Nursey said. “I’d say so.”

 

They talked hockey the entire car ride back to Parson’s hotel, Dex driving, Nursey turned around in the passenger seat talking to Kent. It was incredible, the way Kent saw the ice - his understanding of strategy but also his depth of intuition. He would toss out insight like it was nothing, as if everyone had the same ability to read a defensive scheme from a glance the way he could. Nobody had ever talked about hockey that way to Nursey before, not even Jack.

And god, he loved the sport. He loved the sport the way Jack did, like everything else paled in comparison.

Nursey had to wonder if that had anything to do with why things went wrong between them.

There was silence when they walked into the hotel room as they all busied themselves taking off their shoes. Then there was an awkward stillness.

Dex looked at Nursey. Kent looked at Nursey.

Right, then.

Nursey crossed the room and tangled his hand in Kent’s hair, turning his face up and enjoying how much Kent had to tilt his head to do so. Pocket-sized hockey players were such a weird turn-on for him. He wondered absently if St. Louis had been a symptom of that, or a catalyst.

“Limits?” he asked.

Kent’s breath sped up just from that, so good to know Nursey’s intuition about Kent liking a bit of casual manhandling was on point. “Not big on pain,” he said. “I like being told what to do. I like, uh…” He blushed, which was adorable. “Praise, you know?”

“How many superstars don’t have an ego?” Nursey said, smiling. “Top or bottom?”

“Either,” Kent said.

“What about both?” Nursey said. “How’d you like to fuck Dex while I fuck you?”

Kent let out a whimper. “Jesus, how old are you?”

“Don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answer to,” Nursey said, smirking. Also good to know the confident act was working, though. Fake it till you make it had always been his style.

“Fair point,” Kent said. “Yeah. That sounds… yeah.” He swallowed hard when Nursey tugged experimentally at his hair.

“Great,” Nursey said, and slapped his hip. “Strip.” He released Kent and went to Dex, pulling him close. “This okay?”

“ _Yeah_ ,” Dex said, already glassy-eyed. “Fuck yeah.”

“Good,” Nursey said, kissing him gently, and then kissing him hard, devouring him at the lips until they both panted from it.

When he turned back, he found Kent sprawled out naked on the bed, lazily palming his cock as he watched them, which broke Nursey’s brain enough that he just froze and stared until Dex kicked him in the leg.

Kent smirked. “God, I’m good,” he said.

“Nah, he’s easy,” Dex said, starting to strip down himself. “You could throw up on his dick and he’d thank you for it.”

“Please don’t throw up on my dick,” said Nursey.

“I’ll endeavor to resist,” said Kent. “You weren’t kidding about that massive crush, huh?”

“God, no,” Dex said. “He jerked it to your _draft_.”

“That’s a damn lie,” Nursey said, because this was getting into mortifying territory.

“Is it?” Kent said, looking at him.

Nursey shifted. It wasn’t. “I refuse to answer on the grounds that it might incriminate me,” he muttered.

“Jesus,” said Kent, smirking lopsidedly, the expression that had first caught Nursey’s eye from the start. “Hope I’m not a disappointment.”

“You, Parson?” Nursey said, tipping his head up with two fingers under his chin. “ _Never_.”

Kent shivered a little. “Kent,” he said, his voice low and rough. “Call me Kent.”

“Alright,” Nursey said, and pressed his thumb to Kent’s lower lip, pulling his mouth open. “Kent.”

 

“God,” Nursey said, when he pushed inside Kent for the first time.

Kent was so tense he was vibrating slightly, which had worried him until he realized Kent was coiled so tight because he was having trouble keeping from moving. Even a light brush of Nursey’s hand up his spine made him buck forward before he managed to wrangle himself back under control.

It was a hell of a fucking ego trip, to be real.

Nursey felt a lot less smug when he bottomed out inside Kent and actually had to squeeze his eyes shut and focus to keep from coming. It wasn’t like Kent felt all that different from Dex - maybe a little tighter, because Kent probs wasn’t getting fucked up the ass three times a week - but there was something about having Kent Parson around his dick that made self-control… difficult. Impossible, even.

“Holy shit,” Dex ground out from underneath Kent. “Someone better move soon, I swear to god.”

“I might come,” Kent admitted.

“I might pass out,” Nursey said, drunkenly.

“Jesus,” said Dex, but he sounded more amused than anything. “Seriously?”

Kent looked over his shoulder. “How do I get your boy to stop bitching at me?”

“Bite his nipples,” Nursey said, which Kent did.

Dex yelped and bucked his hips up, which made Kent curse and move forward, which brought Nursey’s whole problem back to the forefront. “God,” he hissed, curling over and pressing his forehead to Kent’s back.

If it was so bad for him, he could only imagine how hard it was for Kent. Nursey wasn’t huge, but he wasn’t small either, and to be filled with him at the same time as having Dex’s ass working round his cock… Nursey couldn’t even imagine it.

Next time, he figured.

“I’m gonna…” he said, and started moving, just slightly, rocking in and out of Kent in little thrusts.

Kent whimpered, but moved with him, catching his rhythm and following it easily. Dex slapped his hand on the headboard of the bed, giving him the leverage he needed to rock back against Kent in counterpoint.

This had been a genius idea, Nursey decided, in the small part of his brain that wasn’t having some sort of religious experience. 10/10, would recommend.

“God,” Kent said, starting to move faster, harder, a touch of wildness to it.

Nursey gripped Kent’s hip and did his best to follow suit, already panting, like this was his first time getting his dick inside of someone all over again. “God, you feel so fucking good,” he said, voice thick. “Dex, you gotta try him out because this ass is unreal.”

“Better than his mouth?” Dex said, clearly trying to sound flippant even though his breathing was just as fucked-up as Nursey’s. “Doubt it.”

“That’s why you gotta try,” Nursey said. “Only fair to go for the - fuck - full and informed comparison.”

“Fuck -” Dex said.

“ _Fuck -_ ” Kent said, and started fucking Dex for real, using every bit of that NHL muscle. As it turned out, it wasn’t just for show. Once he put his back into it, he was driving Dex into the mattress hard with every thrust, and Dex and Nursey were just dragged along for the ride.

“God, I’m gonna -” Dex said.

“Shit, _Kent_ ,” Nursey groaned.

“Yeah, yeah, do it,” Kent said, and he kissed Dex hard and wrapped his hand around his cock and tugged, and Dex spilled over with a sharp cry.

It took about two seconds for Nursey to follow, his entire body going weightless as he did. Kent fucked into Dex another three times, carrying the weight of Nursey’s slumped body like it was nothing, and then he was shaking as he came inside Dex before finally stilling, lifting Nursey’s body with each heaved breath.

Nursey pulled out carefully and then collapsed on his back on the bed. “‘M just gonna…” he mumbled. “Gimme a minute.”

“Lazy ass,” Kent said, chuckling and pulling out of Dex. Somewhere between him leaving to get a washcloth and coming back with it, Nursey slipped off to sleep.

 

When Nursey woke up, there were soft fingers in his hair and soft voices murmuring above him. He smiled sleepily at both.

“Yeah, I guess he’s got such a huge crush on you it kind of rubbed off on me,” Dex was saying. “Seemed healthier than getting jealous about it.”

Kent laughed. “For sure,” he said. “Well, that’s one off his bucket list, then.”

“You say that as if it’s actually out of his system,” Dex said. “I mean, he’s not gonna stalk you to Vegas, but if you think having a night of ridiculously hot sex with you is going to _lessen_ his crush on you…”

“So you’d be down for it again?” Kent said, a little too casually.

“Hell yeah,” Dex said quickly, which made Nursey feel weirdly warm and fuzzy about the whole thing. “I mean, if you wanted…”

“Hell yeah,” Kent said. “Here, give me your phone.”

The bed shifted underneath him.

“I’m only out east so often, but when I’m in the area I’ll def hit you up,” Kent said. “Pair of pretty boys like you get top roster slots.”

“Ugh,” Dex said. “You’re terrible.”

Kent laughed. “Some people say,” he agreed.

“And you don’t have to - I mean, Nursey’s pretty as hell, but I’m not…” Dex shifted.

Nursey was about to pick his head up and give him a flat stare, but then Kent laughed again. “You don’t think you’re pretty?” he said.

“I wouldn’t say… _pretty_ , no,” Dex said.

“Aw, don’t talk bullshit,” Kent said. “You’re pretty, get over it. If I have to hear it, you do too.”

“But -” Dex said. “I’m all… freckley, and ginger, and I have big ears and weird hair and I -” His voice cut off with a muffled grunt, like Kent had just slapped his hand over his mouth.

“Shhhh,” Kent said. “Shhh, puppy.” He patted Dex’s head. “Freckles are hella cute, I didn’t even notice your ears, you do have weird hair but hi pot I’m kettle, and hey - who doesn’t like redheads?”

“I’m sayin’,” Nursey mumbled, and both of them jumped.

 

After they showered and dressed and said their goodbyes, they got in the car outside Kent’s hotel. Nursey rested his head against the headrest and watched out the window as Dex pulled out and started to drive.

The night was pitch black around them, and there was a faint smell of either weed or skunk in the air. The summer air was stagnant and hot, but with the windows down, the breeze washed over them like cool water. There were no other cars on the road, which gave the night an oddly surreal vibe, like they could be anywhere, at any time, in any city in America.

Nursey glanced over at Dex. Dex looked back at Nursey.

Simultaneously, they burst out laughing.

“Holy shit,” Dex said. “We just had a threesome with _Kent Parson_.”

 

They each had to depart Providence in the morning, headed back to their respective homes, which sucked. Nursey’s parents were relaxed but Dex’s weren’t, and sticking around Providence while knowing Kent was in town without being able to bone him was just inhumane temptation.

Nursey kind of moped around Manhattan for the next few weeks drinking expensive coffee and working out, reading and cooking and texting the guys and jerking off three times a day to the memory of watching Kent suck off Dex. He was counting down the days until classes started back up, which was a first. He liked school fine, he liked hockey fine, he liked his friends a lot, but it turned out he liked getting laid regularly a _lot_ a lot, and monogamy was easier said than done. For Dex, duh, he’d do it, but he didn’t have to feel sanguine about it.

He was in his favorite coffee shop one day, curled up in a beanbag chair reading Proust - it turned out Nursey did not like Proust - when his eye happened to catch on a pair of guys sitting at a table by the door. They were both wearing hats. The guy facing him had on Ray-Bans and was chewing absently on a coffee stirrer as he listened to the other one speak, and the other guy was gesturing a lot with his hands as he explained something.

Nursey knew he should stop staring, and he was about to when Ray-Bans guy turned his head just slightly, like he was looking straight at Nursey, and smirked.

Oh, what the fuck.

Nursey got up and stalked over, plopping down in the empty seat.

“Took you long enough,” said Kent, the dickbag, because who else would wear Ray-Bans inside?

Dex laughed, knocking his foot against Nursey’s under the table. “Nursey gets really into his reading. It’s impressive…ly nerdy.”

“Excuse me for not watching the fucking door for the entrance of two people who I last saw in Rhode Island weeks ago,” Nursey grumbled, which probably could have been phrased more concisely for better impact, except he was off his game. “What are you even doing here?” He looked at Dex.

“Parse texted me that he was flying out of JFK tomorrow and wanted to know if I wanted to come down for a day,” Dex said. “I believe his phrasing was…”

“For the hot summer lovin’,” Kent supplied.

“Awesome,” Nursey said, grinning. He sprawled out in his chair. “Kind of presumptuous to figure I wouldn’t have anything better to do than -”

Dex wordlessly held up his phone to show Nursey’s last five texts to him.

“Okay, granted,” Nursey started.

“What even is a Frozen Fog anyway? I’m getting three,” read Dex from his phone. “They’ve started vacuuming around me. I think I’ve started leaving personalized sweat stains on my favorite weight bench.”

“Okay okay okay,” Nursey said, elbowing him and knocking over his drink in the process.

Kent rescued it before it could spill. “Apparently Poindexter’s taking a sick day from his internship for this, so you better thank him good.”

“I don’t think he’ll complain about my methods,” Nursey said loftily.

Dex ducked his head and grinned.

 

Nursey would have taken them out to dinner, but he had a feeling the Ray-Bans and baseball cap disguise would only work for so long, and he wasn’t itching to get photographed stealing forkfuls off Kent Parson’s dinner plate.

Anyway, his parents were gone for the weekend, so at least they didn’t have to shut themselves up in a hotel room this time. Plus, there was something delicious about the image of Kent in his childhood bedroom. Of all the insane fantasies to ever see come to life…

The addition of Dex made it all the better, not least of which because Kent definitely would have set his house on fire if left to his own devices.

“You can’t microwave that,” Dex said, snatching something out of Kent’s hands. “Seriously, how many of your own microwaves have you gone through by now? Be honest.”

“I refuse to answer on the grounds that -” Kent started to say.

Dex threw a grapefruit at Nursey.

“Hey!” Nursey said.

“You did this,” Dex said, pointing at Kent.

“I don’t see how you can blame his existence on me, man, I’m just an innocent bystander,” Nursey said, shaking his head. “You a dark rum or a light rum person, Parse?” He glanced over the contents of the liquor cabinet, deciding what he was in the mood for.

“Light,” said Kent. “This is mean. I want popcorn.”

“You can have popcorn as long as you don’t blow up Nursey’s microwave in the process,” Dex said. “Just - let me, Jesus.” He fussed around fixing Kent his popcorn.

Kent grinned.

“You did that on purpose,” Nursey mouthed to him.

“I’m quite sure I have no idea what-” Kent mouthed back, until Nursey threw a grapefruit at him.

 

“Parse, you gotta be the tie-break,” Nursey said, jiggling his thigh. “Stranger Things or Deadpool?”

“Huh?” Kent said, blinking up at him from his lap. “I fell asleep while you were arguing. What’re we talking about?”

Dex reached over and flicked his forehead. “Just - decide by the time I get back, yeah?” He went to the bathroom.

“Genuinely I have no idea,” Kent said, yawning and knuckling his eyes. “Which one is Stranger Things?”

“The Netflix show about the 80’s kids, c’mon, we just talked about this for about 20 minutes,” Nursey said. He ruffled Kent’s hair - shaggier and blonder than he’d seen it before, which was a look that really worked for him.

Kent grinned up at him. Nursey had to wonder how Jack had ever gotten over that smile. It still hit Nursey in the gut every time. “Yeah, it’s _my_ fault you spent so long arguing I fell asleep on you. Seriously, are you guys dating or is this some sort of hostage scenario? Blink once for dating, twice for please help me, Parse, you’re my only hope.”

Nursey laughed. “We’ve always been the… you know, pulling pigtails kind of romance. Sometimes I can’t tell myself how much Dex actually likes me.”

“Who, that kid?” Kent said. “Dude, don’t even, that boy adores you. I was totally kidding with that shit, he’d marry you if you asked him.”

“What, Dex?” Nursey said. “You’re crazy, man.”

“Believe what you want,” Kent said, shrugging. “I just hope you’re making your future plans with him in mind, because he’s doing it for you.”

“What, Dex?” Nursey said again, mind-blown. “I - no way.”

Kent just smiled. “Whatever you say.”

Dex came back outside. “What’d we decide?”

“Deadpool,” Kent said promptly.

“Dude!” Nursey hissed.

“I forgot what the other one was,” Kent said. “Sorry?”

Nursey groaned.

 

Nursey woke up to a clatter downstairs at some ungodly hour of the morning. There was a distinctly Dex-shaped lump in bed next to him.

He wandered downstairs in his boxers, blinking at the light.

“Sorry,” Kent said, zipping up his bag. “Early flight, gotta run.”

“Need any sustenance? Got a lotta Larabars,” Nursey said.

Kent opened his mouth, then paused, like he knew he should refuse but didn’t want to.

“You need Larabars,” Nursey decided, going to the pantry and pulling out a box of Larabars. He stuffed a handful into Kent’s bag.

“Thanks,” Kent said, smiling. “They’re like nutritionist-approved candy, I’m addicted.”

“I know it,” Nursey said, pleased. He kind of got why Bitty liked caretaking so much. “Training camp ahoy?”

“Yeah,” Kent said. “You gonna root for me this year?” He lifted himself onto the counter, swinging his legs. There was something about it Nursey found weirdly appealing - that casual arrogance, so unconcerned with etiquette.

Nursey grinned. “You saw the Rangers sweaters in my closet upstairs, right? Can’t just change allegiances like that.”

Kent rolled his eyes and reeled him over with a foot hooked behind his back, tugging him into a kiss, sleep-warm and comfortably familiar, like they’d already learned each other that well. Eventually, Kent released him, rubbing at his collarbone with his thumb. “You’re gonna root for me,” he said. His eyes were cool green and half-lidded, and Nursey still had no goddamn clue how Jack had ever given this up.

“Maybe,” he said.

“Maybe,” Kent mocked, and kissed him again.

 

When they got back to school a few weeks later, there were packages waiting for them at the Haus - matching Aces sweaters in home, away, and alternate colors.

“Cheater,” Nursey said, fingering the captain’s C on the front.

Dex buried his smile in the fabric, breathing in the new jersey scent.

 

Dex and Nursey parked their asses in the living room for the first Aces game of the season. Dex actually growled when Tango made noises about changing over to the Food Network. As much as Nursey loved the Food Network, or at least had come to love the Food Network while living in the Haus with Bitty - no. Just no.

“God, it’s just dirty,” Dex said, watching Kent undress the LA defense before flicking the puck back to his center.

“I know,” Nursey sighed. Fangirling over Parson hockey wasn’t new for him, but it was nice to have company. “So pretty.”

“Are you talking about Parson’s hockey or his lips?” said whichever douchebag friend of Whiskey’s had taken to hanging around the Haus the most recently. Probably a Chad, Nursey figured.

“Do I gotta pick?” Nursey said.

“Don’t be a dick,” Whiskey said absently, chewing on his pen as he worked through his calc homework.

“No, it was a genuine question,” protested possibly-Chad.

“Oh yeah, then both,” Nursey said. “I mean.” He gestured to the screen, right as Kent scored off his own rebound. “You gonna argue?”

“The hockey’s pretty enough, I guess,” said possibly-Chad.

“Like you didn’t jerk off to Edelman’s fingertip catch last year,” Dex said.

Possibly-Chad sat bolt upright. “How’d you - I mean -”

Dex looked over at his Patriots sweater and Red Sox hat. “Lucky guess,” he deadpanned.

 

Nursey texted Kent as the game headed into the final minute with the Aces up 4-2. _Duuuuude._

He got back a text while he was brushing his teeth. _YOU LIKE THAT??_

He furrowed his brow and texted, _Uh. Yes?_

Kent texted back a minute later. _My three year old football references are lost on the plebeian masses_.

Nursey chuckled. _Sorry but yeah. Night, superstar_.

Kent texted back a series of heart emojis.

Nursey went to sleep smiling.

 

Weeks later, Dex chuckled from the bed below Nursey.

“Sup?” Nursey said, half asleep with his book over his face.

“Parse keeps texting me about how much he wants Krispy Kreme but he shouldn’t break his diet,” Dex said. “Apparently this is a, uh, barbaric temptation the likes of which I could not possibly conceive. He’s so dramatic.”

“Chyeah, Parse is extra as hell,” Nursey said. He yawned. “Do we know his address?”

“Yeah, from the jerseys,” Dex said. “Why?”

“Is Krispy Kreme on Grubhub?” Nursey said.

Dex checked. “Yeah.”

“Let’s do it,” Nursey said. “If knowing Jack taught me anything, it’s that the only thing keeping pro athletes from binging on simple carbs is proximity.”

“Yeah, but that’s Bitty baked goods, not… Okay, yeah, Krispy Kreme is worth breaking your diet for,” Dex admitted. “But shouldn’t we be helping him keep his diet, not actively sabotaging him?”

Nursey smiled. “I don’t mind being Parse’s indulgence. Do you?”

“Oh,” said Dex. “No, I… No.” Nursey could hear the smile in his voice. “But, uh, does the fact that you can only buy donuts in dozens have any bearing in this discussion?”

“It does not,” Nursey said.

“Didn’t think so,” Dex said.

 

Kent texted them a series of texts in rapid succession half an hour later.

_HOLY SHIT._

_My teammates love you but the nutritionists won’t._

_You’re the best and I hate you but you’re the best._

_Holy shit holy shit._

Nursey chuckled and texted, _I had no idea you were this easy, Parse_.

Kent texted back within seconds, _Yeah you did._

Nursey thought about this, then texted, _Yeah, I did_.

Kent sent them a selfie of him halfway through cramming an entire donut into his mouth.

“Two time MVP of the NHL right there,” Dex said, laughing.

“I know,” Nursey said dreamily.

 

Late in October, the Aces were playing the Islanders the next night and Kent had texted them the address for a hotel halfway between Samwell and New York, so Nursey and Dex tried to slip out of the Haus undetected as soon as Nursey’s class let out that day.

Unfortunately, living with the nosiest people alive had its drawbacks.

“Are you going to dinner?” Chowder asked, peering over the back of the green couch.

They looked at each other. “In a manner of speaking,” Nursey said.

“Can I come?” Chowder said.

“No,” Dex said.

“Where are you going?” Tango asked from the kitchen. “Can you bring back some sriracha?”

“Uh,” Dex said.

“No,” Nursey said.

Whiskey glanced over. “You’re being weird,” he said through a mouthful of Bitty’s maple pecan clusters from that week’s care package. “What are you doing?”

They looked at each other. “Date night,” they said together.

“Ohhh, say no more,” Chowder said, flopping back down on the couch. “Have fun!”

“So is that a yes or no on the sriracha?” Tango said.

“I don’t, uh… think we’re coming back tonight,” Dex mumbled.

Tango widened his eyes. “Oh no, I’m sorry,” he said.

“You need anything?” Whiskey said, smirking. “Condoms? Energy bars? Gatorade?”

“Okay, bye!” Dex said loudly, going red and pushing a laughing Nursey out the door.

 

Nursey got a text from Kent while they were on the bus headed to an away game; he felt Dex’s phone buzz from the seat next to him at the same time.

He opened it. _Ransom & Holster y/n? _was followed by a long link to a [Buzzfeed article](https://www.buzzfeed.com/h2/vflt/terripous/these-pictures-of-cheetahs-with-their-dog-bffs-will-warm?utm_term=.udqEpGKAgD#.mn4ylVL2jk) titled **These Pictures Of Cheetahs With Their Dog BFFs Will Warm Your Heart.**

“Oh man he’s so right,” Dex said under his breath. “Down to the anxiety.”

“He’s not a coral reef, man, he’s a cheetah,” Nursey said, laughing and forwarding the link to Ransom and Holster without context before texting Kent back, _YYY a thousand times Y._

Dex. _You get them, holy shit._

Kent. _I know haha. Srsly though I want one. Think cheetahs are allowed in Vegas apartments?_

Dex. _No._

Nursey. _YES._

Dex. _NO_.

Kent. _OMG baby hippo baby hippo!!! Nev mind new pet idea._

He sent a link to an [article](http://www.slate.com/articles/video/video/2017/06/fiona_the_baby_hippo_meets_scuba_divers_at_the_cincinnati_zoo.html) titled **A Premature Baby Hippo Meets Underwater Divers.**

Dex. _NO!!_

Nursey. _How bored are you man? Stop having muscle spasms if you can’t handle waiting around for the trainers to deal with you._

Kent. _DID I ASK YOU?? Do you think the cheetah and the hippo will be friends?_

Dex. _ABORT ABORT_.

Nursey. _Sorry man but we’re actually pulling up to the hotel now so we gots to go_.

Dex. _Do NOT buy a baby hippo while we’re busy, do you hear me_?

Kent. _Lol ok bittle WHATEVER you sayyyy_

“What are you two laughing about?” Chowder asked.

“Nothin’,” Nursey said, still laughing.

Ransom texted back while they were eating dinner. _I think we’re both flattered by that comparison bro_.

 

The bunk beds had sounded like a good idea before they hooked up, but they quickly found out it was hard for two full-sized hockey players to get down in a twin bed, much less one where they bashed their heads every time they sat up fully. Dex said he got vertigo when he tried to fuck on the top bunk, which Nursey took to mean he was afraid of heights, and naturally mocked him for relentlessly.

It was even harder for both of them to fit in the frame to Skype comfortably, so they usually made it work with one of them sitting on the floor with the computer and the other one lying on the bed behind them. Nursey liked to be the one on the floor because Dex would play with his hair when they talked, so he always made sure his Skype was open when Kent called every Sunday.

“Have I ever told you how pretty you look with bruises?” he said when the video opened up. “Because you are very fuckin’ pretty with bruises.”

“That is so messed up,” Dex said, twirling a lock of Nursey’s hair around his finger.

“Nah, I get it,” Kent said, tonguing the split in his lip. “I always liked - guys with hockey marks. Bruises and scrapes and shit.” He shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t think you get into pro sports unless you’re a little weird about pain, hockey in particular.”

“That is a psych 101 theory if I’ve ever heard one,” Dex said.

“Well, take it from the NHL player,” Kent said, making a face, “the guys here love to show off their injuries, believe me. They’ll take any excuse to wander around the locker room naked, all, _oh, this bruise the size of my hand? Nah, it was nothing_.”

“Sorry, all I got out of that was _the guys here_ and _wander around the locker room naked_ ,” Nursey said.

Kent snickered. “Which guys would you be fantasizing about there, pretty boy? You into big Canadians without teeth or bigger Russians without teeth?”

“Hashtag not all NHL players,” Nursey said. “And who are you calling pretty boy, pretty boy?”

“Now now, you’re both very pretty,” Dex said.

“We know,” said Kent.

“Yeah, def,” said Nursey.

Dex rolled his eyes. “What even happened?” he said. “You get that during the game?”

“No, practice,” said Kent. “Monty got a little over-enthusiastic with his stick.”

“Dang,” Nursey said. “Harder for me to make a big show about defending your honor against your own teammates.”

“I’d like to see you defend my honor against Monty,” Kent said. “Only not, because you would _die_.”

“Aw, pooky-bear, I’d do it for you,” said Nursey.

“Pooky-bear?” said Dex.

“That’s a new one,” Kent said. “No need to fight my 6’4” D-man, though, he already feels awful. He bought me one of those mango fraps after practice and didn’t even make fun of me for it.”

Nursey pouted. “God, now you’ve got me wanting a frappuccino,” he said. “Mean.”

“Rub some dirt in it,” Kent said. “You finish that paper, Dex?”

“Yeah, finally,” Dex said, groaning. He rested his chin on top of Nursey’s head. “This is why I don’t take social science classes, man, I was up half the night writing that stupid essay and the amount of sympathy I got from my boyfriend was -”

“Proportional to the amount of sympathy you deserved for a ten-page essay,” Nursey cut in.

“It would take me roughly six weeks to write a ten-page essay,” Kent said.

“You see?” Dex said, indignant. “But if _he_ tried to script one measly function -”

Nursey leaned back and smiled, letting the satisfaction of listening to his two favorite boys bitch about him wash over him.

 

On Christmas Day, Nursey woke up to a group text with Dex and Kent in which there raged a heated debate on the superiority of Baileys over Kahlua, and vice versa.

He smiled, rolled over, and went back to sleep.

 

Their texts later that day were more of the standard _Merry Christmas_ variety. Kent’s featured a selfie of him in footie pajamas, wearing an uncomfortably sexy smirk. Dex’s selfie seemed to be taken mid snowball fight; his face was as red as his hair and he was wearing that goofy hat Holster had bought for him their freshman year.

Nursey didn’t even know he was grinning until he realized that his cheeks were aching from it.

“I am in so much trouble, Mom,” Nursey said, flopping on the couch with his legs hooked over the arm and throwing his elbow over his eyes.

“That’s nice, dear,” his mother said, patting his hair.

 

Nursey’s phone buzzed with an incoming call, causing the study group at the library table to look up at him. “Sorry,” he said, wincing, and grabbed his phone to go outside with it. Once he was outside, he allowed himself to burst out laughing and answer it.

“Stop messing with my Spotify!” Kent said indignantly. “I swear to fuck, I thought my Alexa thing was haunted for like, ten minutes.”

“You kind of had that coming when you gave me your password,” Nursey said. “Also, you’re listening to that song from Riverdale on repeat and if you think I’m not going to judge you for that -”

“Okay, first off, I don’t think being generous enough to let you use my Spotify account means I have it coming when you decide to freak me out, you little troll,” Kent said. “And secondly, as I have told you multiple times now, they did not write _Sugar Sugar_ for Riverdale. _Sugar Sugar_ existed many, many years prior to Riverdale.”

“This the point where I chirp you for being so old?” Nursey said, leaning against the outer wall of the library and grinning, his breath steaming in the cold winter air.

Kent squawked. “That song was written in, like, the 60s. I was born in the same decade as you, you little fuck!”

“You keep calling me _you little something_ , which just highlights our age gap,” Nursey said. “Your language usage indicates to me that -”

Kent hung up on him.

Grinning even more, Nursey cued Taylor Swift’s _22_ to play on Kent’s Amazon Echo speaker.

 _You are a malicious evil child and I’m changing my Spotify password_ , Kent texted him a minute later.

 

Providence wasn’t that big a city, but still Nursey hadn’t been worried about running into Bitty or Jack while they were visiting Kent before his game. This was shortsighted, he realized, when he opened the door of the Starbucks and walked smack into Jack.

“Whoa,” he said, contemplating turning right back around.

“Nursey?” Jack said. “What the…”

“Nursey?” said Bitty, peeking around from behind Jack. “And Dex! Lord, what are you doing in Providence? It’s so good to see you!”

“We’re here for… the game,” Nursey said, glad to be wearing a coat to cover his Aces t-shirt. Awks, man.

“Yes,” Dex blurted. “We are here to watch the game at the arena. As one does.”

“And not at all sound like robots in the process,” Nursey said, nodding and patting Dex’s head. “That is what we are here to do.”

“Shut up,” Dex said.

“Oh!” Bitty said. “Fantastic! Jack doesn’t have to go to the arena for another two hours at least, we should hang out until then!”

“That is something that we should have considered,” Nursey said, pursing his lips. “How improvident it would have been for us not to think of it.”

“They’re being weird, right?” Jack said, looking at Bitty. “It’s not just me?”

“No, sweetie, they’re bein’ super weird,” Bitty said, patting Jack’s arm.

A cool drawl from the side prevented Nursey and Dex from having to come up with an explanation for this. “Jack Zimmermann, as I live and breathe.” Kent swaggered up, pushing his sunglasses up to the top of his head. “Funny running into you all here.”

“Oh. Kent,” Bitty said, visibly tensing up. “How… nice to see you.”

“Had a hankerin’ for some coffee,” Kent said, in a surprisingly good Southern accent. “But hey, since we’re all here together, do you mind if I join you?”

“Of course not,” Jack said, while Bitty’s smile stayed frozen in place. “Do you know Nursey and Dex?”

“We met at your birthday party last year,” Kent said. “How’s it going? Still waiting to hear back about grad school?” he asked Nursey.

“Yeah,” Nursey said, amused by the absolutely ridiculous scenario they were getting into. Still, for the sake of Bitty’s peace of mind… “But. Uh. We can’t actually stay,” he said. “We’ve got… reservations.”

Dex checked the time. “Yeah,” he said, trying not to laugh. “Reservations.”

Bitty didn’t seem particularly upset about this, now that Kent had joined the gathering. “Oh, that’s too bad,” he said. “We’re actually pretty busy too, now that you mention it. Well, let us know if you’ve got time later and we’d love to catch up!”

“What a shame,” Kent said. “Well, catch y’all on the flip side.” He disappeared into the Starbucks.

Nursey shrugged at Bitty and Jack, like _What can you do_?

 

Nursey was outside smoking a cigarette when he heard Dex’s voice through the window. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Hit me up,” Kent said.

Dex hesitated for long enough that Nursey had time to crush his cigarette and come back inside before he asked it. He made a face at Nursey. “Last one ever, right?”

“You know it,” Nursey said, flopping down on the hotel bed by Kent’s feet.

Dex rolled his eyes.

“No way did that fly when Jack was your captain,” Kent snorted. “I remember the lectures.”

“Whatever,” Nursey said. Getting to the Frozen Four was hard enough when Jack was on the team; they didn’t have a fucking chance without Ransom and Holster. It just didn’t seem that important to keep his lungs in tip-top shape. “Dex?”

Dex turned back to Kent. “You know Jack came out to his team for Bitty, right?”

“Sure,” said Kent. He managed to keep his voice casual, but Nursey saw the way his hand clenched into a fist. “What about it?”

“Is that what you want?” Dex said. “To be out?”

“God, no,” Kent said.

Dex relaxed a little.

“I mean, I’m out to the guys,” Kent said. “But if you mean ‘do you want to be _out_ ,’ then no. I get enough press already, Christ.”

“Yeah?” Nursey said. “But in an ideal world, where being with a guy isn’t any different than being with a girl…?”

“Sure, but that’s a fuckin’ fantasy,” Kent said. “It’s a nice thought, but it’s not happening in my lifetime. Better for my mental health to keep things quiet and avoid the drama.”

Nursey nodded.

“I know some people think I owe it to all the little queer kids out there, and I get that, but I just can’t convince myself it’s worth putting myself through hell just to break the barrier,” Kent said. “Maybe that’s selfish, but I -” His voice cracked. “I’m not that guy. If Jack is, all the more power to him, but it’s not me.”

“Hey, hey,” Nursey said, wrapping his arm around Kent’s shoulders and pulling him in. He pressed a kiss to his temple. “We’re not judging.”

“Yeah, shit,” Dex said, a little panicked, “I only asked because I wanted to make sure we’re not… we’re not something you’re settling for, instead of reaching for what you want.” He flushed red.

“Oh,” Kent said, blinking. “No.” He smiled slightly. “No, far from it.”

Dex cleared his throat. “Good.”

“Good,” Nursey murmured, squeezing him closer.

 

Nursey got the email during dinner one day in February. He checked his phone when it buzzed, then choked around his mouthful of green beans.

“You okay?” said Chowder.

“Uh huh,” said Nursey. He gulped down some water. “I’ll - right back,” he said, stood up, tripped over his backpack strap, disentangled himself, and went to lock himself in the single-person bathroom by the dessert table.

The email didn’t have his admission status, but it directed him to log in to the application status website that did. He gnawed on his lip while he did, jiggling his leg as the shitty Wi-Fi in the cafeteria took ages to load.

 _Congratulations! It gives us great pleasure to offer you admission_ -

He slipped his phone in his pocket and tipped his head back, staring up at the ceiling and fighting to get his breath back.

 

He acted like a complete tweaker all through dinner and went immediately to their room when they got back to the Haus, mumbling something about homework. He wasn’t surprised when Dex followed him up, eyeing him carefully as he locked the door behind him.

“Everything okay?” he said.

Nursey collapsed back on Dex’s bed, covering his face with a pillow.

“Everything is not okay,” Dex answered himself.

“Everything is mildly overwhelming,” Nursey said into the pillow.

“Wanna talk?” Dex said. He sat on the bed by Nursey’s head.

Nursey shifted to use Dex’s thigh as a pillow, since the real one was still pressed over his face. “I heard back from UCLA,” he said.

“Shit, really?” Dex said, going tense under Nursey. “What did they say?”

Nursey took a deep breath.

“This is a shitty time to be playing hard to -”

“I got in,” Nursey said.

“That’s amazing!” Dex said, so genuinely thrilled for him. “That’s really, really great, Nursey.”

Nursey peered up at him, sliding the pillow down to uncover his eyes. “But it’s… really far away from Denver,” he said.

“It’s not _that_ far,” Dex said practically. “It’s like, a two and a half hour flight.”

Nursey raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah, I checked,” Dex said, unabashed.

Nursey smiled. “Look how much you’ve grown, li’l man,” he said, reaching up to tap Dex’s nose, remembering how hard it had been for him at the beginning.

“Ugh, shut up,” Dex said. “Are you happy?”

“Yeah,” Nursey said. “I just…” Kent had known this was how Dex was going to respond, he realized suddenly. “I thought this might require like… a big relationship talk. But you’re being surprisingly… unflapped about it.”

“There’s no way that’s a real word,” Dex said.

“Unflappable comes from somewhere,” Nursey said. “Discuss.”

Dex got red and fidgety, the way he always did during big relationship talks. “Now that you mention it…”

“See!” Nursey said. “This is why I was flapped!”

“Okay, now I know you’re making that one up,” Dex said. “But yeah, now that you mention it… I really wanted you to get into UCLA, man. I know I was trying to be cool about it, but I’m like… _really_ happy for you.” He took a deep breath.

Nursey sat up.

“It’s not entirely altruistic,” Dex said. He looked down, toying with a loose thread on his blanket. “Just - UCLA is a lot closer than New York. And you know, Los Angeles is only a two and a half hour flight… but Las Vegas is even closer for both of us.”

Nursey hitched a breath.

“I haven’t talked to him about it,” Dex said hurriedly. “I wanted to talk to you first. But… Samwell isn’t going to be our hub anymore, you know? I’ll be in Denver, you’ll be in LA. We’re always going to be traveling to see each other. So what if we made Vegas our home base?” He looked up at Nursey. “I think he’d be happy about it.”

“Yeah,” Nursey said. “But if we did that, man…” Kent’s words rang through his mind. “I think that’s a statement. I think it means we’d be planning our lives with him in mind.”

“Yeah,” Dex said, eyes serious. “I know.”

Nursey started to smile, slow but building, growing.

 

Kent sat on the bed cross-legged, stroking his cat and watching the argument like a Ping-Pong match.

“We had equal closet space in the Haus, I don’t get why you suddenly think you deserve more than me now.”

“Buckle up for some big news, Poindexter, but I was keeping half my shit in Chowder’s room because I knew you would bitch at me if I tried to squeeze one toe over the literal _line_ you drew in the closet -”

“Because if I hadn’t drawn a line, your shit would have invaded my space like a stupid fungus!”

“You weren’t even using all the space! I have more clothes than you, get over it.”

“You have more clothes than fucking Regina George! Do you need to talk to someone about this?”

“As turned on as I am that you just referenced Mean Girls in an argument, you’re still fucking wrong. Closet space should be allocated by ratio of clothes in possession, it only makes sense.”

“Closet space should be equal, and allocate this, asshole!”

Kent stepped in at that point, which was probably a good thing. “Guys,” he said. “My walk-in is huge. Even with equal space, you’re not going to have a problem here.” He leaned back on the bed, bracing his weight on his palms. “I’m starting to think you have some arguing kink or something.”

“As if,” Dex said. “He’s just a tool who’s wrong about too many things.”

“He’s just a neurotic freakazoid who needs to chill about the small stuff,” Nursey said.

Dex spun and stabbed a finger at him. “ _You’re_ the one who -”

“Guys,” Kent said. “As thrilled as I am that you’re quasi moving in with me, we’re going to need to set a few ground rules here.”

Nursey and Dex both faced him, a little abashed.

“One, that I’m not expected to act as a tie-break for all your stupid arguments, because I’m not putting myself in the position of choosing sides,” Kent said.

“Fair,” Dex said.

“Fair,” Nursey agreed.

“And two, that nobody gets offended when I make popcorn for the show,” Kent said, grinning.

Nursey was the one to start laughing first, but Dex followed seconds after, all of the tension in the room shattering completely.

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re terrible?” Nursey said, climbing into bed next to Kent and leaning in to nip at his earlobe with his canines. “Because you’re terrible.”

“You totally are,” Dex agreed, sitting on Kent’s other side. “Plus, don’t you mean when _I_ make popcorn, so you don’t blow up your microwave in the process?”

Kent smirked, devilish and irresistible and so adorable Nursey couldn’t stand it, that gut-punch of a look. “I refuse to answer on the grounds -”

Nursey cut him off with a kiss. “Just the _worst_ , Parson.”


End file.
